Chamonix Camera Wood Choice

[turtle]

What do you think, from a structural/purpose perspective, of the two wood choices now available for Chamonix cameras?

Does anyone else use Canadian Maple for view cameras? It is a good material for a large camera such as a 8x10? I know a few owners here have maple or walnut chamonix cameras, but what about teak? I know there is an ecological debate regarding these two woods and this is something I am aware of, but seeing as I have owned mahogany and ebony wood cameras before, I have no idea what to expect from either maple or teak!

[Milton Tierney]

I see no problem with Canadian Maple. Maple is much lighter cheaper then ebony. I’ve never built a camera, but I’ve done some woodworking using various species of wood. Each species has it’s good and bad points with weight, strength, ease of shaping and cutting the wood. Before I start a project I would test the wood to determine if its suitable.

[turtle]

The maple is a little lighter and if it is decently strong, sounds the best bet. Teak seems an odd choice and I am baffled as to why Chamonix does not use any of the woods typically seems on view cameras, such as mahogany or cherry.

[Fred L]

I'd love to see a curly maple or bird's eye maple camera. preferably with a medium to darkish stain

[Dave Hally]

I have a maple Chamonix 4x5, with black metal bits, and I really like it. I don't know how much lighter or stronger it is, I don't think it matters much. I have been experimenting with veneering the lens boards with various woods. So far the quilted maple is looking very good, although the cherry one looks very nice also, and is easier to get a smoother finish on it. I'm also going to try make my own extension board, out of curly maple and carbon fiber sheet. That should be fun.

Dave hally

[Jim Andrada]

I do a lot of woodworking (enough to have a 3000 pound sliding table saw and a 24 inch bandsaw.) To my mind stability is key. I think mahogany is about the best wood you can use for cameras due to its reasonable strength and light weight, but even more so due to its stability. And it can look beautiful if properly finished. Maple can be pretty good as well if properly seasoned - after all piano pin blocks and bowling alleys are made out of it. I do think maple can be less stable if exposed to moisture, though.

Teak is an interesting wood to work with - hell on blades because it contains silica deposits naturally and its oils can make gluing it up a bit problematic - I always used to wipe it down well with acetone and glue it up quickly before the oils re-emerged. I guess you could use it but I've never liked it all that much even though I've used it as trim on a couple of wooden boats. Teak dust is not good for you and the inevitable splinters in your fingers can wind up as infections pretty quickly. In some ways pretty nasty, but lovely when finished.

[Robert Oliver]

I have one of the original 45n-1 Chamonix made from Canadian Maple and love it... never a problem.

[evan clarke]

Good straight grained maple is good. I have consumed many semi loads of birdseye in my career and it's just not as stable for casework..Evan Clarke

[turtle]

Well Hugo had 8x10 teak cameras in stock, but no maple (with 3-4 week wait, which could mean delivery after I have moved address).... so I plumped for the teak to keep things simple. From the pics online, there is enormous variation in the teak cameras. Some are quite light, have lovely grain and are beautiful, whereas others are more mid orange-brown, with dead straight grain and less character. I guess I will have to keep fingers crossed that its pretty!

Can't wait